Improvement in machines for sowing fertilizers



L. BIGKFORD.

Fertilizer.

Patented- Aug. 17, 1858 AM. PHOTO-LITHU. 50. NY. (OSBUHNE'S PROCESS.)

lJNiTED Srarns Parser warren.

L. BIGKFORD, OF MAOEDON, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT lN MACHINES FOR SOWING FERTILIZERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. QIIJIBE, dated August17, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LYMAN BtcKFoRD, of Macedon, in the county of Wayneand State of Ne\vYork,have invent-ed a new and useful Improvement onMachines for Sowing Guano and other Fertilizers, and particularly on themachines for such purposes for which Letters Patent were granted toWarren-S. Bartle, April 22, 1856; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof, reference being badto the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification.

My invention consists in forming the part of the hopper through whichthe distributing-apertures are made, and alsothe slide or slides bywhich the size of the apertures is regulated, of thin metallic plates orother fit material, or of plates of metal or other material sloped to anedge, so that a thin or sharp edge bounds the sides of the apertures,which construction and arrangement more effectually than any othersevers and detaches particles from the mass and causes the passagethrough the apertures of the substances sown to be the shortestpossible, and permits these substances to pass the apertures obliquelyas well as other- \vise,and to prevent the apertures being cloggedbyadherence, accumulation, or otherwise when such are used in connectionwith vertical shafts carrying horizontal stirrers for the purpose ofagitating and feeding the fertilizers through the apertures.

Figure l of the drawings is a perspective view of the hopper of WarrenS. Bartles machine for sowing guano and other fertilizers, patentedApril 22,1856, with the front and part of the bottom broken out for thepurpose of showing myimprove'ment more distinctly. A is the part of thebottom of the hopper in which are the apertures a a a, through which thefertilizing substances are distributed,con-

sisting of a plate of sheet metal or other suit- I able material as thinas can be, and yet have snfficient strength and stiffness to cause it toretain its proper form and resist the pressure that may be upon andagainst it. The plate is made thus thin for the purpose of causing theapertures to be bounded by a thin or sharp edge. The apertures may be atany desirable distance apart, and may be rectangular, circular, or ofany other convenient form. Above and near to each of theoutlet-apertures a is placed one of a series of vertical distributors,

which each consist of a vertical sliaft and radial arms,r, perpendicularthereto. These distributers are geared together at the top, and revolveupon their vertical axes,each one in a direction contrary to that of itsimmediate neighbor.

Fig. 2 is a view of the under side of the hopper-bottom, the slides bywhich the distributingapertures are regulated, and the device foractuating the slides. b 1), Figs. 2 and 3, are the slides for varyingthe size of the apertures a a a, Fig. 1, made of the same material andthickness as is the part of the hopper-bottom above described. On theunder sidle and at the back part of them they are fastened by rivets orscrews to a bar of Wood, 1), Figs. 2 and 3, or other tit material, forthe purpose of stiffening them and keeping them in contact with theplate above. These slides are made thus thin that when moved across thedistributing-apertures to form one of their sides they may present athin edge,and to keep the apertures bounded by a thin or sharp edge. Theslides are actuated by the parallel bars 0 c and lever d, Fig. 2. Othermodes of actuating would,- however, answer equally well.

Instead of separate slides for the several apertures, there may be asingle one extending across them all.

Both the plate in which are the distributingapertures, and also theslide or slides, maybe made of thicker material than that abovedescribed, though not so conveniently, and the same end attained-that ofbounding the sides of the apertures by a thin or sharp edge-by makingthe under side of the plate and the upper side of the plate about theapertures in such manner as at the boundaries of the apertures to reduceit thin or sharp, and also so sloping the under sides of the slides asto make the edge crossing the apertures thin or sharp.

Instead of putting the slides on the under side of the plate in whichare the apertures,

they may be placed upon the upper side, and I therefore do notintend tolimit myself to the former position.

Some of the fertilizers used absorb moisture largely, and when damp areclammy and sticky, and when portions of them are moved into thedistributing-apertures by the distributers K K, Fig. 1, the particlestend to adhere to the mass above; but the part of the hopper-bottom inwhich the distributingapertures are and the 2 QLHSH regulating-slidesoperating in contact with it being in my improvement both made of thinmaterial or of material sloped to an edge, as above described, a thin orsharp edge bounds the sides of the apertures a a a, Fig. 1, which servesto cut off and detach portions or par-ti cles from the mass as often asthe radials r r of the distributers sweep over the apertures. All suchfertilizers as guano, muck-marl, and comminuted barn-yard manure intheir passage tend to adhere to the sides of the apertures if theapertures to any appreciable extent partake of the form and nature of atube, which they always do by being made through thick material notsloped; but the apertures uting-tubes, to be the shortest possible, and

also permits them to pass either vertically or obliquely freely, so thatin their passage they do not adhere or accumulateand clog the apertures.The thicker the material through which the distributing-apertures aremade, if not thinned by sloping, the longer is the passage from thehopper to the distributing-tubes the less obliquely the fertilizers canpass the apertures, and the greater the extent of surface for thesubstances sown to adhere to, and so great is the difference caused byincrease of thicknessin this respect that apertures made throughmaterial one-fourthof an inch thick at times clog and operate badly.

I do not claim as myinvention the formation simply ofdistributing-apertures in'the bottom of a hopper of a machine for sowingfertilizers, seeds, or other things, for such are employed in themachine for which Letters Patent were granted to Warren S. Bartle, April22, 1856, and in other sowing-machines; but

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A hopper-bottom, A, formed of sheet metal or its equivalent, in whichare arranged apertures a, constructed as set forth, when combined with aseries of vertical stirrers, K, and a slide or slides, b, arranged onthe under side of the bottom A, in the manner and for the purposessubstantially as described.

In testimony whereof l hereunto set my hand to this specification.

LYMAN BIGKFORD. Witnesses:

THOMAS C. DoNN, P. HANNAY.

